Who this is for
We provide IT services for professional services firms: businesses that sell expertise and time, and hold confidential client information in return. That covers a suburban accounting practice, a law firm with a busy conveyancing desk, a financial planning office, a management consultancy whose people work from client sites, and architecture and engineering studios handling large drawing files.
These firms share a pattern. Work is billed by the hour or by the job, deadlines are fixed by someone else (a lodgement date, a court date, a tender close), and almost everything of value sits in documents and email. Slow, scattered or insecure technology shows up as unbilled time and as risk to client data.
You do not need an in-house IT department to fix that. You need someone to look after the everyday systems, tighten security, and connect practice software, accounting and documents so that work is entered once. If you are unsure where to begin, an independent IT review sets out the options in plain English.
Common technology challenges in a practice
- Client files spread across email attachments, a shared drive, desktops and personal cloud accounts, with no single current version
- Time recorded in one system, invoices raised in another and work in progress tracked in a spreadsheet
- An ageing office server that holds everything and is hard to reach securely from home or a client site
- Shared passwords for lodgement portals, banking and practice software, and former staff who can still sign in
- Identity documents, tax file numbers and financial statements arriving by ordinary email
- Deadline rushes, such as the end of the financial year, when a slow or failed system costs billable hours
- Large drawing and model files that are slow to open, share and back up
How we help professional services firms
Managed IT support
One point of contact for staff, with Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace administered, devices patched and new starters set up before their first day.
Cyber security
Multi-factor authentication on email, practice software and portals, a password manager in place of shared logins, encrypted laptops and backups restored as a test.
Cloud migration and hosting
Documents and line-of-business software moved off the office server, so principals and staff can work securely from the office, home or a client site.
Business systems and integrations
Practice management, time recording, Xero or MYOB and your CRM connected, so a new client or matter is entered once and invoices follow from recorded time.
Custom software
Client portals for sharing documents and collecting information securely, onboarding and engagement workflows, and job tracking shaped to how your firm works.
A typical project for a firm
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Discovery call | A free conversation about how work moves through the firm, which systems you run and what your professional obligations require. |
| 2. Plan and quote | A written plan and a fixed or staged quote, agreed before work starts and scheduled around your busy periods, such as tax time. |
| 3. Build and test | Delivered in stages with regular demos. Migrations are rehearsed on a copy of your data, and integrations are tested with sample clients and matters before they touch live records. |
| 4. Launch and train | Go-live happens at a quiet time, with data migrated, access set for each role and short training sessions for everyone. |
| 5. Ongoing support | Monitoring, updates and help for your staff, plus regular reviews of who has access to what as people join, change roles and leave. |
Commonly integrated systems
We connect to the systems firms already run. These are common examples, and we are independent of their vendors. Most products that offer an API, a documented way for programs to exchange data, can be connected.
- Xero and MYOB for accounting, invoicing and payroll
- Xero Practice Manager for jobs, time and billing in accounting and bookkeeping practices
- LEAP and similar legal practice management software
- Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Excel, SharePoint) and Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Calendar) for email, documents and calendars
- HubSpot and Salesforce for client relationships and business development
- Docusign for signing engagement letters and agreements electronically
Privacy, security and record keeping in Australia
Privacy. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says most small businesses are not covered by the Privacy Act 1988, but some are. A small business is one with an annual turnover of $3 million or less. Regardless of turnover, the Act covers, among others, a business that is a reporting entity for the purposes of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. The same page notes that some small businesses must also comply with the Privacy (Tax File Number) Rule 2015, which regulates the handling of individuals' tax file number information.
A firm the Act covers must comply with the 13 Australian Privacy Principles, which govern, among other things, the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. Under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme it must also notify affected individuals and the OAIC when a data breach is likely to result in serious harm.
Security. The Essential Eight is a framework developed by the Australian Signals Directorate to help organisations protect themselves against cyber threats. Its eight strategies include multi-factor authentication, patching applications and operating systems, restricting administrative privileges and regular backups. We work to it, and we do not issue certification.
Records. The ATO says you need to keep most records for 5 years, stored in a way that protects the information from being changed. How long client files must be kept under your professional rules is a question for your professional body and advisers. We set retention and backups to match.
Questions from professional services firms
Can you work alongside the practice software we already use?
Yes. Most firms keep their practice management and accounting software and ask us to connect, secure and support what surrounds it. Where a product has no API, we look at exports and imports and tell you plainly what is possible. See business systems and integrations.
Our client files are on a server in the office. Do we have to move to the cloud?
No. Some firms move everything, and some keep certain software on site and move only documents and email. The choice is yours. If you do move, the cloud migration is planned around your deadlines and rehearsed before the switch.
How do you handle confidential client information during a project?
We work with the least access the job needs, use test or masked data where we can, and agree in writing who can see what before we start. Access is removed when the work ends. You own your data, code and documentation throughout.
Can clients send us documents without using email?
Yes. A client portal lets clients upload documents and complete forms over an encrypted connection, signed in with their own account, so files land against the right client record. We build portals as custom software, or set up a suitable product you already license.
We only have a few staff. Is this worth doing?
Small firms often gain the most, because one person usually carries the IT work on top of a client load. You can start with a single fixed-scope job, such as a security review or tidying up Microsoft 365, and stop there. Ask for a free quote.
